The left of the Democratic Party is pinning its hopes on a primary victory on Tuesday to ease the pain of some recent disappointments.
Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who served as a high-profile surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the 2020 presidential campaign, looks to have the edge to win the Democratic House primary in the state’s 11th Congressional District. The seat was previously held by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.
Turner is backed by Sanders — who campaigned for her over the weekend — as well as progressive Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.).
But the large polling lead she enjoyed in the early stages of the race has been winnowed down. Turner’s main rival, Cuyahoga County Democratic Party chairwoman Shontel Brown, is in with a fighting chance.
If Brown were to pull out a win on Tuesday, it would extend a series of letdowns for the left that encompasses the New York City mayoral primary and the Virginia gubernatorial primary, which were won respectively by Eric Adams and Terry McAuliffe.
Both men are relative moderates who vanquished left-wing challengers.
Those defeats have raised the stakes on Tuesday.
“We need Nina. I need Nina. Please send me Nina,” Ocasio-Cortez urged voters at a Cleveland rally for Turner late last month.
